Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols walks to the dugout after grounding into a double play to end the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners on Monday Sept. 12, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. (Kevin Sullivan/Southern California News Group, File)

ANAHEIM >> Albert Pujols is planning to run — as well as he can, anyway — all the way through the tape of the race that is the baseball season.

Despite a case of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, Pujols said Thursday that he doesn’t expect to end his season early.

“It’s my job,” he said. “Just because we’re out of it, I still want to play, like everybody else here is playing. I get ready to play every day, try to help the team win every night. The season is not over. When the season is over in a couple weeks, I’ll have plenty of time to rest.”

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he doesn’t believe Pujols’ foot is to the point that he should be rested.

“In a situation where the risk gets to be overwhelming, we’ll definitely have a conversation and back off, but he wants to play,” Scioscia said. “He wants to play baseball. That’s what he’s here for.”

In 2013, Pujols had plantar fasciitis in his left foot, but that was nothing like this. He tore the tendon in late July, which made it impossible for him to continue playing. This time, Pujols said his foot was just aggravated by using some orthotics before they were broken in and then playing on artificial turf late last month in Toronto.

“I feel pretty good right now, better than what it was,” Pujols said. “It’s still sore once in a while, but not that bad.”

While his foot might be feeling better, his numbers have gone the other way recently. After hitting .441 over a 12-game streak — ironically, starting in Toronto — Pujols has since managed just one hit in 24 at-bats, with no walks, heading into Thursday’s game.

“It is what it is,” Pujols said. “Sometimes things go your way. Sometimes they don’t. Been there before. It won’t be the last time.”

Skaggs wants to pitch

With clearance from the surgeon who performed his Tommy John surgery, the next hurdle for Tyler Skaggs will be trying to convince the Angels to let him pitch.

Skaggs, who said he got confirmation from Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Thursday that his ulnar collateral ligament was intact, now has his sights set on playing catch as soon as Monday. He then wants to start again sometime in the final two weeks.

Whether the Angels allow that remains to be seen.

“If they don’t want me to pitch, I get why they don’t want to,” Skaggs said. “At the same time, I want to come back and pitch. I want to go out and finish the season knowing I’m healthy. I think this is more of a minor setback.”

Skaggs was diagnosed with a mild flexor pronator strain, not nearly as serious as damage to his UCL, which is what some feared when the Angels reported he was scratched because of forearm tightness.

“I know it’s scary on Twitter,” Skaggs said. “But I was playing long toss and throwing bullpens. It’s not like my arm was falling off.”

To that end, he is hoping to pitch again. The Angels want that too, but maybe not until instructional league in October.

“We’re going to be ultra conservative with this whole thing,” Scioscia said. “We’re not going to say he’s got to pitch here or he’s got to pitch there. If he’s ready to pitch and there’s somewhere for him to pitch, it might be good for him to go down and get some peace of mind.”

Innings, however, won’t be an issue. Because he missed so much time this season with a shoulder problem, Skaggs has thrown just 87-1/3 innings in the minors and majors. Skaggs believes another 20 or so should be added to that total from extended spring and simulated games.

In any case, it’s not enough for him to jump to a full 200-inning workload next year, regardless of what he does in the next month.

“You want to get to the 170-inning range and he’s not going to get there,” Scioscia said. “So the extra 12 or 15 innings he might be able to pitch are not going to impact that.”

Quick hits

Alex Meyer said Thursday afternoon he still hadn’t sat down with Pujols to evaluate the tape of his game on Tuesday. Meyer said Pujols suggested to him that he might have been tipping his pitches to the Seattle Mariners. Meyer said he’s still not sure if that was the problem, or if he just didn’t pitch well. … Matt Shoemaker, still recovering from having his skull fractured by a line drive, is expected to return to the ballpark sometime during the next homestand, in the final week of the season. Shoemaker has been recuperating at home in Southern California since he was released from the hospital on Sunday morning. … Andrelton Simmons returned to the Angels lineup after missing three games with a bruised right hand. He was hurt in a rundown on Sunday.

Jeff Fletcher has covered the Angels since 2013. Before that, he spent 11 years covering the Giants and A's and working as a national baseball writer. Jeff is a Hall of Fame voter. In 2015, he was elected chairman of the Los Angeles chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

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